Personal vibrators, also known variously as vibrators, massagers, vibrating massagers and by numerous other names, are well-known in the art. They come in a variety of configurations and perform a variety of functions, ranging from medical therapy to erotic stimulation. They typically are battery-powered or run on conventional alternating current electricity.
As noted above, many types of prior art vibrating massagers have been powered by internally contained, disposable batteries. They operate for a period of time on the battery power, subsequently requiring some degree of disassembly, battery replacement and reassembly. It will be apparent to the reader that this type of battery operation has drawbacks, including for example, limited time of operation and the inconvenience and expense associated with the necessary battery replacement.
While some vibrating massagers operate on AC power, for example U.S. 110V or European 220V power, these massagers tend to be large and unsafe for internal use or use in damp environments. They also have the inconvenience of requiring proximity to a wall plug.
In addition to their limitations as to power sources, prior art vibrating massagers are similarly limited in their modes of operation. A typical vibrating massager includes a switch mounted directly on the vibrator housing. Massagers are known which include controls that are connected to the vibrating device by a wire. Control wires, however, are inconvenient in the same manner that electrical wiring to supply power is inconvenient. Further, controls for these wired devices are typically limited to simplistic control functions, such as on/off and intensity functions.
More recently, vibrating massagers have become known that use wireless remote controls to control various functions. As with the wired remote controls, the controlled functions are generally very simplistic. They are unable to transmit or receive complex control signals and are usually incapable of networking with other devices. Many are limited in range and consume excessive power. See, for example relating to wireless vibrators: U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,531 to Wanderlich (a terminal unit for a mobile communications system), U.S. patent application 2005/0075072 to Apitzsch (a remote-control vibrator), U.S. patent application 2003/0195441 to Firouzgar (a remotely controllable stimulator).
Looking more particularly at U.S. patent application 2005/0075072 to Apitzsch, the published application mentions the use of inductive charging for a personal vibrator, however falls short of teaching or suggesting any useful and functional inductive charging structures or functions. The patent further shows the use of Bluetooth™ technology to control the vibrator, teaching relatively limited functionality of the wireless controls.
Another type of controllable vibrator uses audio control signals to affect the operation of the vibrator. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,500 to Cutler (a massage system responsive to audio), U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,463 to Moriyasu (a music massager) and U.S. patent application 2002/0065477 (an audio interactive vibrator).
Yet another type of vibrating device can be controlled using external computers, directly and/or through network connections to the Internet. These computer-controlled vibrating massagers are quite complex and require significant infrastructure to operate. See, for example relating to computer-controlled vibrators: U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,986 (an interactive vibrator for multimedia). See, for example relating to network—connected devices, U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,484 to Rosenberg et al. (force feedback over a computer network), U.S. patent application 2005/0027794 to Decker (the remote control of a wireless device using a web browser), U.S. patent application 2004/0132439 to Tyagi et al. (a remotely controllable wireless sexual toy), U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,268 to Sandvick et al. (the control of sexual aids using digital computer networks), and U.S. patent application 2002/0133103 to Williams et al. (an Internet—based electrically—operated sexual aide).
As discussed above, prior art vibrating massagers generally exhibit one or more drawbacks relating to their power source and/or controls. Replaceable batteries are inconvenient while electrical plugs are both inconvenient and inappropriate for smaller devices. Built-in and/or wired controls are generally inconvenient and limited in function. Available wireless controls are limited in function, particularly as relates to interoperability with other devices. Computer and computer network controls, while potentially providing significant functionality, are expensive and complex, and without wireless control, are inconvenient to use.